STANDARD GRADE

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STANDARD GRADE CLOSE READING -

• Saint Rochs Secondary School

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CONTENTS

• Introduction to Close Reading (slides 3 6)
• Write down an expression/word/quote questions
  (slides 7 13)
• In your own words questions (slides 14 21)
• The writer's attitude (slides 22 27)
• Sentence structure questions (slides 28 34)
• Punctuation and punctuation questions (slides 35
  44)
• Word choice questions (slides 45 52)
• Questions about effectiveness (slides 53 56)
• Context questions (slides 57 61)
• Questions about how ideas are carried
  on/illustrated/developed (slides 62 68)
• Linking questions (slides 69 73)
• Figures of speech (slides 74 75)
• Contrast questions (slides 77 80)
• Tone Questions (slides 81 84)
• Final questions (slides 85 88)

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Introduction

• This PowerPoint is designed to help you improve
  your Close Reading skills.
• Your Close Reading Exam grade, along with your
  Reading Folio pieces make up your final Standard
  Grade level for Reading, so it is very important
  that you try your hardest in the exam.
• The exam lasts for 50 minutes whether you are
  sitting the Foundation, General or Credit papers.
  You will be given a passage to read and a set of
  questions to answer on the passage.
• In the Close Reading papers you are trying to
  show the examiner that you have understood the
  text.

4
To begin

• You should read through the passage twice
  carefully. If you are not a fast reader then you
  could read through the passage once thoroughly
  and then when a question asks you to look at a
  certain paragraph make sure that you read that
  paragraph again.
• You should then have a quick skim through the
  questions before you begin. If you feel that you
  do not have time to do this then you should at
  least skim through the questions page by page as
  you come to them.
• Ensure that you know whether the passage is
  fiction or non-fiction and study any accompanying
  photographs. If there is one, remember to read
  the introduction to the passage, as it will give
  you a general idea of what theme / topic the
  passage deals with.

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When tackling the questions

• Read the questions very carefully and ensure that
  you know what you are being asked to do before
  you begin.
• Check for bold type in the question. This is very
  important as information / instructions in bold
  type highlight important sections of the
  question.
• The passage will direct you to look at certain
  paragraphs in bold type. Only take your answer
  from that paragraph. If you take from any other
  you will lose marks.
• Identify key words in the question eg. quote,
  write down, one word etc.
• Check whether answers are worth (2,0) or (2,1,0)
  marks.
• Quote from the passage if asked to, otherwise,
  use your own words. This is very important! Easy
  marks are often lost because candidates do not
  follow instructions. ALWAYS QUOTE when directed
  to do so and ALWAYS USE YOUR OWN WORDS if
  instructed.

6
Now, Lets look at the types of questions you may
get!
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Write down an expression/word/quote questions
8
Write down an expression/word/quote questions

• This type of question is asking you to find an
  expression/word/quote (or group of words) in the
  paragraph that you are directed to which tells us
  something important.
• Usually this piece of information is so important
  that it is worth two marks. So normally you will
  see 2 / 0 against the question.
• This means you write down one thing, but get two
  marks for it.

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For example

• If a question said Write down an expression
  which tells us Jo is angry
• then you know to go looking in the paragraph for
  words which carry the idea of angry.
• It could be I was fuming or I almost lost the
  head, etc.
• You just have to find it and write it down.
• Do not write down the whole sentence.
• Remember, an expression is not a complete
  sentence.

10
Example 2004 Credit paper

• There was a stranger seated at the kitchen table,
  a most horrible and wild stranger who looked
  worse than the brigands of childhood tales.
• Question Quote the expression that sums up
  Pelagia's impression of the stranger.
• Answer most horrible and wild.

11
Example 2001 General Paper

• Behind them, all kinds of people are perched on
  the tailgates of a variety of vehicles. Is this
  some bizarre store for recycled rubbish? Well, in
  a way it is. In other words, you have found
  yourself in the middle of your first car boot
  sale.

Question Write down an expression which shows
that the writer thinks this 'junk' makes a
strange collection.
Answer bizarre store
12
Example 2002 General Paper
He waited at their corner, hands deep in pockets,
his shoulder to the dirty, grey sandstone wall.
The bell was ringing and he could hear the
children streaming out into the playground. When
she spotted him she broke into a trot and he
retreated round the' corner a little to swoop
suddenly with a mock roar, bearing her laughing
wildly up into his arms. As he set her down he
asked quite formally what kind of morning she'd
had. She began to speak, and her enthusiasm
breathed upwards into his smiling face and beyond
in the chill air.

• Question The man is shown to be thoughtful and
  caring towards his daughter. What evidence is
  there of this in the passage?
• Answer He makes her laugh, and he asks her about
  her morning at school.

13
Example 2003 General Paper

• We were in Dracula's castle sited on the remote
  Tihuta mountain pass where the Victorian Gothic
  novelist Bram Stoker based the home of his
  fictitious vampire - two days' carriage ride from
  Bistrita in northern Transylvania.

Question Give two pieces of evidence which
suggest that Bram Stoker wrote the novel Dracula
more than one hundred years ago. 2 1 0
Answer (i) reference to carriage (1) (ii)
reference to Victorian (novelist) (1)
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In your own words questions.
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IN YOUR OWN WORDS QUESTIONS.

• Unless you are sure you are being asked to quote,
  you should always answer in your own words.
• This is the only way to show that you really
  understand what the writer is saying.

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Some advice on tackling these questions

• When you read this you know that the answer is
  right there in the paragraph you are told to look
  at.
• You can take confidence from this.
• You only have to look carefully at the lines or
  paragraphs you are told to look at, find the
  answer/line/idea and put it into your own words
• These questions are testing your vocabulary.
• You must say the same thing, but use other words
  to do so.

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Example 2003 General Paper

• Downstairs was Count Dracula's coffin in a
  narrow vault, the walls painted with the dramatic
  scenes of human victims, wolves, skulls,
  skeletons and the black-cloaked monster himself,
  red blood dripping from his pointed fangs. So far
  on our Romanian holiday the only blood-sucking
  had been from the mosquitoes in Bucharest.
  Luckily we had decided to send their father down
  first as a guinea pig to test out how scary this
  experience was likely to be for our seven-, five-
  and two-year-olds.

Question In your own words explain fully why
their father was sent down first. 2 1 0
Answer to find out/see (1) if it was too
scary/frightening/if it was suitable for the boys
(1)
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Example 2003 Credit Paper

• Round in shape with a plume of tall feathers, the
  bird stood about three feet high, the size of an
  overstuffed turkey or swan. Its wings were small
  and useless, its head surrounded by a hood of
  fine feathers giving it the appearance of a
  monk's cowl. Yet most distinctive of all was its
  unfeasible looking bill. It was huge and bulbous,
  possessing a business like hook at the end.

Question In your own words, what does the
writer's use of the expression 'unfeasible-Iooking
' tell you about the dodo's bill?
Answer It appeared / seemed /looked (1) as if
it would not work/as if it would not be any use
(1)
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Example 2008 General paper
Professional competitive surfing has two tours
the WQS and the World Championship Tour (WCT).
The WCT is the premier division, with the WQS
being used as a platform for professionals to
move up into the big time. Around 160
upand-coming wave riders are expected to take
part in the Thurso event. Prize money of 100,000
(57,000) is up for grabs, along with vital tour
points.

Question In your own words, explain the
difference between the two professional surfing
tours, WCT WQS ? 2 1 0

• Answer WCT gloss of premier division eg best
  competitors/higher status (1)
• WQS gloss of platform ... to move up into the
  big time eg step towards the better competition
  (1) accept reference to lower status (1)

LINK TO MORE EXAMPLES!!!
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For practice

• Task
• Look at these words and phrases you might find in
• questions.
• Which expressions tell you that you ought to
  quote in
• your answer and which ones suggest you write in
• your own words?
• Why do you think?
• Which word?
• Explain fully?
• Find an expression?
• How does the writer?
• Write down the word?
• Which expression?
• By close reference to the text.?

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ANSWERS

• The phrases that tell you that you must quote in
  your answers are
• Which word?
• Find an expression?
• How does the writer?
• Write down the word?
• Which expression?
• The phrases that suggest that you write in your
  own words are
• By close reference to the text.?
• Why do you think?
• Explain fully?

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The writer's attitude
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The writer's attitude

• Note that this question - type asks about the
  writer's attitude.
• Not a character within the text, but the writer
  himself.
• Attitude simply means what the writer is
  thinking about a subject.

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Some advice on tackling these questions

• The easiest way for any writer to convey his
  attitude is through word choice.
• For example, read these two sentences and think
  of the attitude of the person who wrote them
  towards the subject.
• My teacher is an angel.
• My teacher is a prince.
• My teacher is a saint.
• My teacher is a clown.
• My teacher is a genius.
• In four of the above the writer is complimentary
  and positive.
• In one however, she is negative and derogatory.

IMPORTANT So when asked for the writer's
attitude think of how words may suggest this
attitude.
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Example 2003 General Paper

• As we walked up to the main lobby there was
  'Vampire' red wine for sale, glass vials of red
  liquid, wooden stakes and probably some garlic
  stashed under the counter. As these tacky,
  souvenirs revealed, it wasn't the real Dracula's
  castle but Hotel Castel Dracula, a threestar
  hotel built in the mountains to service some of
  the nearby, ski slopes.

Question In your own words, what is the writer's
attitude to the various goods for sale in the
hotel lobby?
Answer She thinks they are touristy rubbish.
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Example 2003 Credit Paper

• Surely this ridiculous bird, fat, flightless and
  vulnerable, had simply been caught and eaten to
  extinction? Too weak or stupid to defend itself,
  too trusting of humans, the dodo had met its
  inevitable end. According to ornithologist Julian
  Hume the fat, comical appearance of the bird is
  grossly exaggerated. Julian has travelled to
  Mauritius to investigate what the bird was really
  like and how it lived. It is here that the only
  two complete skeletons of the bird exist which
  have proved just how misrepresented the dodo has
  been.

Question Which one word sums up the writer's
sympathetic attitude to the dodo.
Answer Misrepresented
27
Example 2003 General Paper

• The architecture (1980s mock castle) reflected
  the Dracula movies but the setting amid the
  dramatic scenery of the Tihuta pass is stunning.
  The "castle" is circled by bats every night and
  the surrounding forests have more wild bears and
  wolves than anywhere else in Europe.

Question In your own words what is the writers
opinion of the setting of the Hotel
Castel Dracula? 2 0
Answer magnificent/thinks it is very
beautiful/very attractive (2) Intensity must be
present
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Sentence structure questions
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Sentence structure questions

• Questions on the structure of sentences are
  asking you about how the sentence is put
  together.
• The writer has done something important or
  unusual in putting this particular sentence
  together.

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Some advice on tackling these questions

• There are two things for you to do here.
• FOLLOW THIS FORMULA!!!
• A) You must note what the structure of the
  sentence is.
• AND
• B) You must explain what effect this has on a
  reader, what it makes the reader think.

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Types of structure.
Some Structures

Effect They Achieve







Short, dramatic, attention - grabbing.
Failure!
Who ? Me ? Why ? How ?

Questions show either doubt or mystery
He failed his exam.

A simple statement of an idea.
He failed English, maths, science, art and
history
A list suggests quantity, a lot of items.
An explanation usually what comes after the
semi-colon qualifies what came before.
He failed everything he never paid attention.

He failed English, his maths just didnt add up
science was a bad experiment for him, art was
surreal and he could never remember dates.
A series of sentences join to make one long
sentence to suggest quantity.
He is now worrying about the future he is now
regretting his laziness he is now looking for
job sweeping the streets he is now a sorry boy.
A list of sentences joined together as one
contain verbs in the present tense. This suggests
a lot of action / lots of things going on.
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Example 2002 Credit Paper

• The transaction seemed to fluster her, as if she
  might not have enough money to pay for the few
  things she'd bought. A tin of lentil soup. An
  individual chicken pie. One solitary tomato.
  Maybe she did need the avocados - or something
  else.

Question How does the writer emphasise that the
woman had bought 'few things' through the use of
sentence structure?
Answer Each item (1) is given a sentence on its
own (1)
33
Example 2003 General Paper

• Gingerly, he tried to reopen the envelope but it
  was stuck fast and the flap ripped jaggedly.

Question How does the structure of this sentence
emphasise the man's care in opening the envelope?
Answer (The word) gingerly is placed (1) at the
start of the sentence (1)
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Ken is lucky that Julie can drive one of the
trucks, change the 2 feet high tyres, make sure
Alex does his school lessons on his laptop, cook,
make sandwiches and dish out the 2 tickets.
Example 2007 General paper

• Question How does the structure of the whole
  sentence help to reinforce the idea of how busy
  Julie is between Easter and October ?
  2/1/0
• Answer the sentence is a long list (1) to show
  the many things she has to do (1).

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Punctuation and punctuation questions.
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Punctuation and punctuation questions.

• There is rather an overlap here with questions
  about sentence structure since punctuation is
  used to shape sentences and to organise the words
  within them.
• However, you may also get more specific questions
  about the use of punctuation marks.
• It is therefore important that you know your
  punctuation!!!

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Punctuation you need to know!!!

1. to separate items in a list.
2. to introduce a quote.
3. to introduce direct speech.
4. to make the reader pause at certain times in a
   sentence.

When do we use commas ? ,

1. to give extra information in a sentence.
2. to make the reader take a pause.
3. to mark out a word or phrase from the rest of the
   sentence (Maths is great not.)

When do we use dashes ? -

1. to show the words actually spoken
2. to show that we are talking about the title of a
   book or film or poem, etc.
3. to show that we are quoting someone else and
   these are not the writers own words.

When do we use Inverted commas ?
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More punctuation.




When do we use semi colons ?

1. to join two (or more) related ideas.
2. to separate items in a list when there are commas
   in the sentence already.
3. to join several sentences into one very long one.

When do we use colons ?

1. to introduce a list.
2. to introduce a quote.
3. to give more information about an idea
4. .to punctuate a play.

When do we use ellipsis ? .

1. Dots used to tail of a sentence.
2. To show gaps in a piece of writing.

1. at the beginning of a sentence.
2. for names.
3. for initials.
4. for the beginning of a section of direct speech.
5. for titles of books, newspapers, films, etc.for
   acronyms (like BBC or STV or CSI)

When do we use capital letters ?
39
Example 2001 General Paper

• After all there's a little collection of pressed
  glass over there that is so irresistible, and the
  old hand-knitted Shetland shawl that nobody seems
  to have spotted, and isn't that a genuine stone
  hot-water bottle lurking among the rubbish. . .?

Question Why does the writer use ellipsis at the
end of the final sentence?
Answer To show that the list could continue / be
endless OR that there could be more examples. 2
marks for either

40
Example 2002 General Paper

• It was now well into the rush hour traffic
  gushed by or fretted at red lights and urgent
  pedestrians commanded the pavements and crossings.

Question Why does the writer use a colon? Is it
to introduce a quotation, to elaborate on an
idea, or to introduce an explanation?
Answer To elaborate on an idea (2)
41
Example 2002 General Paper

• At the last corner before the school's street
  they both halted in an accustomed way and he
  squatted down to give her a kiss. She didn't mind
  the ritual but not outside the gates her pals
  might see and that would be too embarrassing.

Question Why does the writer use a colon? Is it
to introduce a quotation, to elaborate on an
idea, or to introduce an explanation?
Answer To introduce an explanation (2)
42
Example 2003 General Paper

• We were in Dracula's castle - sited on the remote
  Tihuta mountain pass where the Victorian Gothic
  novelist Bram Stoker based the home of his
  fictitious vampire - two days' carriage ride from
  Bistrita in northern Transylvania.

Question Why does the writer use dashes in this
paragraph?
Answer To provide additional information /detail
/parenthesis (2)
43
Example 2003 General Paper
It wasn't the real Dracula's castle but Hotel
Castel Dracula, a three-star hotel built in the
mountains to service some of the nearby, ski
slopes. The architecture (1980s mock castle)
reflected the Dracula movies but the setting amid
the dramatic scenery of the Tihuta pass is
stunning. The 'castle' is circled by bats every
night and the surrounding forests have more wild
bears and wolves than anywhere else in Europe.
Question Why does the writer put the word
'castle' in inverted commas?
Answer Being ironic / to show it's not really a
castle / to show it's really a hotel (2)
44
Example 2001 Credit Paper

• The driver opened the back door of the taxi and
  my 'aunt', as we referred to her - really my
  mother's aunt's daughter divested herself of the
  travelling rugs.

Question What is the function of the dashes?
Answer Giving additional information /
parenthesis (2)
45
Word choice questions
46
Word choice questions
Words are chosen for effect words can make you
think of more than just their literal meaning.

• Words have connotations. These are the
  associations we give to words, the ideas we are
  made to think of when we hear or read any given
  word.

Lisbon 67
Seville 03
CELTIC FC
Henrik
Rangers
Ireland
Scotland

• When a question asks you to comment on word
  choice think of the associations the identified
  word(s) will conjure up in a readers mind.

47
Another example

• Think of the ideas we associate with the word
  butterfly.
• We think of delicate things, light, beauty,
  erratic flight, unpredictability, etc.
• If the word is then used to describe a person
  then these qualities are associated with that
  person.

48
Some advice on tackling these questions

• These questions are asking you to do two things

• First identify and write down the word/s which
  are being used for effect.
• 2. Then, explain what their effect is. The
  effect is what the word makes you think.

• This phrase (makes us think) should appear in
  your answer.
• When a question asks you to comment on word
  choice think of the associations the identified
  word(s) will conjure up in a readers mind.

49
When you answer you should use the formula below

• The word "..........X............" suggests that
  ............................................
• OR
• "......X......." makes us think about
  ...............................................

50
Example 2002 Credit Paper

• The transaction seemed to fluster her, as if she
  might not have enough money to pay for the few
  things she'd bought. A tin of lentil soup. An
  individual chicken pie. One solitary tomato.
  Maybe she did need the avocados - or something
  else.

Question How does the writer emphasise that the
woman had bought 'few things' through the use of
word choice?
Answer Use of a / an / one / individual /
solitary
51
Example 2001 Credit Paper
The driver opened the back door of the taxi and
my 'aunt', as we referred to her - really my
mother's aunt's daughter divested herself of the
travelling rugs. She hazarded a foot out on to
the gravel - in a pointy crocodile shoe - as if
she were testing the atmosphere. She emerged
dressed in a waisted black cashmere overcoat with
a fur collar and strange scalloped black kid-skin
gloves like hawking gauntlets.
Question What impression of the aunt do you get
from the writer's choice of the words 'divested',
'hazarded', and 'emerged' to describe her
movements?
Answer She is controlled/ precise/
deliberate/calculating/ elegant/
contrived/graceful/ attention-seeking/ self
conscious/a show off/ a poser Anyone for 2
marks
52
Example 2004 Credit paper

• He was breathing heavily and the smell was
  inconceivably foul it was the reek of rotting
  flesh, of festering wounds, of ancient
  perspiration, and of fear.
• Question Explain fully how the writer
  emphasises the smell through word choice.
• Answer Inconceivably foul/reek of rotting
  flesh/festering wounds/ancient perspiration (1)
• explanation (1) 2/1/0

53
Questions about effectiveness
54
Questions about effectiveness

• You will sometimes find a question asking how
  effective you find an aspect of the writers
  style.
• Its almost a trick question, as the examiners
  have pretty much decided already that the writing
  IS effective.
• What they really want to do is to explain why.
• (If you are feeling very sure, and very skilled,
  you can argue that the extract is not effective
  but youll have to use a lot of good evidence to
  explain why you think this.)

55
Example 2002 General Paper

• It was easy standing here to recall the bustle of
  business life. It came to him how much he wanted
  it, that activity. It was more than just
  something you did to make money It was the only
  life he knew and he was missing out on it,
  standing on the sidelines like a face in the
  crowd at a football game.

Question Explain how effective you find the
simile in this extract.
Answer Answers should deal with the idea that
'sideline' left out / excluded etc (1) AND that
'face in a crowd' anonymity / one of many /
lost / unimportant etc (1)
56
Example 2002 Credit Paper
He told her to take a seat while he called security, but when he turned from her she let out a thin wail that made him recoil from the phone. She had both her temples between her hands, as if afraid her head might explode. She let out another shrill wail. It ripped out of her like something wild kept prisoner for years. It seemed to make the room shrink around them.
Question Quote a comparison from this section
which shows how emotional or upset the woman was,
and explain how effective you find it.
Answer ... 'as if her head might explode'. / 'It
ripped out of her. . . prisoner for years.
' Either of these for 1 mark appropriate
comment on the intensity of the image for 1 more
mark
57
Context questions
58
The context question.

• You may be asked to show how the context, that is
  the words or phrases around an unusual word, that
  give us an idea of what an unfamiliar word may
  mean.
• This question is asking you to do two things
• A) Say what the meaning is
• B) Say how the words around the word concerned
  help you to find this meaning.

59
For example.

• Look at this example-
• He lay there XXX , blood seeping from a head
  wound and his jaw cracked like a walnut.
• You can guess that XXX will mean injured or
  damaged or something like this.
• You have guessed by using the context to help you
  reach an understanding.

60
Example 2003 Credit paper.

• When the dodo died the animal was stuffed and
  sold to a museum. Taxidermy not being what it is
  today the dodo slowly rotted.
• Question Explain how the context helps you to
  understand the meaning of "taxidermy" in
  paragraph 9.
• Answer If you follow the advice above you will
  probably think the word "stuffed" is the big
  clue. If the animal "rotted" then it would not
  have been stuffed properly. So, the meaning is
  stuffed.

61
Example 2002 Credit Paper

• It wasn't often you had this kind of intuition
  about somebody, but as soon as he saw her looking
  at the seeds, he was certain she was going to
  steal them. He moved closer to her, picked up a
  watering can and weighed it in his hand, as if
  this was somehow away of testing it, then he saw
  her dropping packet after packet into the bag.

Question 'It wasn't often you had this kind of
intuition. . .' How does the rest of the
paragraph help to explain the meaning of
'intuition'?
Answer Intuition means that you sense or guess something. He guesses that she will steal the seeds and then he watches her doing this.
62
Questions about how ideas are carried
on/illustrated/developed
63
Questions about how ideas are carried
on/illustrated/developed

• Questions which ask how the writer

Continues this idea
Develops this idea
Illustrates this idea
Or
Or
These questions are suggesting that the idea
which is stated in the question itself (usually a
quote from certain lines) is then returned to by
the writer in some way.
64
Continued

• The writer might say the same thing again but in
  different words,
• Or
• Might tell us more about the idea by giving more
  details about it
• Or
• Might give an example of what he is talking about
• They all involve the same skill you have to find
  the words used to tell us more about the thing
  mentioned in the question.

65
Example

• Think of this made-up example
• "I was scared" (paragraph X)
• Question How does the writer develop this idea
  in the rest of the paragraph ?
  2/1/0
• Say we look at the rest of the paragraph and we
  see
• "My knees began to shake, my throat began to dry
  up and my knuckles were white.
• Which words tell us about him being scared ?
• All three ideas highlighted above tell us the
  effect his fear has on him.
• So you would get two marks for noting all three,
• One mark for noting any two, but nothing for only
  one.

66
Example 2003 General Paper

• Downstairs was Count Dracula's coffin in a narrow
  vault, the walls painted with the dramatic scenes
  of human victims, wolves, skulls, skeletons and
  the black-cloaked monster himself, red blood
  dripping from his pointed fangs. So far on our
  Romanian holiday, the only blood-sucking had been
  from the mosquitoes in Bucharest. Luckily we had
  decided to send their father down first as a
  guinea pig to test out how scary this experience
  was likely to be for our seven-, five- and
  two-year-olds.

Question 'Downstairs was Count Dracula's coffin
in a narrow vault, the walls painted with the
dramatic scenes' In what ways does the writer
convey the 'dramatic scenes in the vault?
Answer The writer uses a list of horrific images
such as blood, fangs, wolves, skulls and
skeletons.
67
Example 2001 General Paper

• All the junk in Scotland meets your befuddled
  gaze thousands of unwanted gifts, the 'wee
  something' for Christmas and the 'I saw this and
  thought of you' for your birthday (how you wish
  they hadn't) then there are the holiday
  souvenirs. In short, all the stuff with which we
  tend to clutter our lives and our cupboards has
  somehow ended up in one place, awkwardly arranged
  on a vast number of folding tables. Behind them,
  all kinds of people are perched on the tailgates
  of a variety of vehicles. Is this some bizarre
  store for recycled rubbish? Well, in a way it is.
  In other words, you have found yourself in the
  middle of your first car boot sale.

Question 'All the junk in Scotland meets your
befuddled gaze' How does the writer continue the
idea of 'junk'?
Answer Reference to any TWO of - use of colon
(to introduce) / (a list of) examples / unwanted
gifts / wee something for Christmas / birthday
gift not wanted / holiday souvenirs /stuff /
(which) clutters our lives /recycled rubbish
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Example 2002 Credit Paper
It was depressing to unlock the door of his cubby-hole, switch the light on and see the table barely big enough to hold his kettle and his tea things, the one upright chair, the barred window looking out on a fire-escape and the wall-mounted telephone. He asked her to take the packets of seeds out of her bag and put them on the table. She did so, and the sight of the packets, with their gaudy coloured photographs of flowers, made her clench her hand into a fist.
Question The detective found the sight of his
cubby-hole 'depressing'. Explain how the writer
continues this idea in the rest of the paragraph.
Answer Reference to any TWO of very small table
/ only one chair / which is an upright one / the
window is barred (like a cell - possibly dark) /
the only outlook is the fire escape / the
wall-mounted phone
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Linking questions
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Linking questions

• A linking sentence is one which links two
  paragraphs together.
• Usually this sentence will appear at the start of
  the second of the two paragraphs which are being
  linked.
• Look carefully at the sentence which is the link.
  
• There will be two parts to this sentence
• One part will refer to the content of the
  paragraph before.
• The other part of the sentence will introduce the
  subject of the new paragraph.

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When you answer you should use the formula below

• There is a simple, four-step formula to tackling
  these types of questions
• Quote briefly from the linking sentence or
  paragraph.
• Show how that quotation makes a link back to
  earlier in the passage.
• Quote briefly again from the linking sentence.
• Show how this second quotation makes a link
  forward to what is to come in the passage.

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Example 2002 Credit Paper

• The three witches in Macbeth, prancing cackling
  round their cauldron, provide the accepted
  clichés of witch behaviour and taste. Alas the
  Macbeth witches have merely served to reinforce
  prejudice, rather than cast illumination.
• So does the witch deserve her poor image?
• It is probable that the Wiccan creed goes back
  to the dawn of religious belief, when cave
  dwellers peered out and saw wonder in the rhythm
  of the changing seasons. Early witchcraft was
  probably no more than a primitive attempt to make
  sense of the unknown.

Question In what way can the single sentence be
regarded as a link of the ideas within the
article?
Answer 'Her poor image' refers back to the prejudiced ideas about witches mentioned already, such as those found in Macbeth. The question, 'Does the witch deserve . . . ?' introduces the next part of the passage, which is going to present a truer history of witchcraft.
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Example Paper

• His father looked at the sweating horse, and
  after a pause he said that he would be alright.
  Howard could see he knew the berries weren't
  ready yet, like the ones behind the steading that
  they always picked and he understood that this
  was a lesson being set up for him when he came
  home without brambles not to tell lies. And
  there'd be another lesson behind this one, the
  real lesson that his father had been right about
  that sort of newfangled nonsense coming to
  grief.
• In spite of this, he forgot it all and slipped
  through the racecourse fence.

Question Explain how the one-sentence paragraph
is an effective link between the paragraphs
before and after.
Answer 'In spite of this' refers to the lessons
of the first paragraph.'. . . through the
Racecourse fence 'takes Howard in to the setting
of the third paragraph. 1 mark for each quote
reference.
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Figures of speech
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Figures of speech
These are simply the various names given to the
different ways in which a writer can make his or
her work more interesting.
Click on this link for a detailed guide to the
different figures of speech you may be asked
about. http//www.buzzin.net/english/figures.htm
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IMAGERY

• A SIMILE tells you that one thing is like
  another it compares two different objects using
  the words like or as.

e.g. His hair was as black as coal. His
heart beat like a drum.

• A METAPHOR tells you that one thing is something
  else. It is not meant literally, but is just a
  way of creating a vivid picture in your mind.

e.g. The cold breeze was a slap in the face.
She stared with eyes of stone.

• PERSONIFICATION describes a thing or object as if
  it is a person, or as having human qualities.

e.g. The wind whistled through the sails.
The sun treads a path through the woods.
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Contrast questions
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Contrast questions

• Contrast is the pairing of opposing ideas
• A contrast is a comparison which shows up the
  differences between subjects.
• The writer is deliberately pairing two ideas
  together to show up the difference which will be
  important in some way.

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For Example

• In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare continually
  compares Juliet to the sun or to a star.

• The idea he is conveying is that she is above
  everyone around her.

• Everyone else is dark by comparison and she
  brings light into Romeos life.

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Example 1993 General paper

• On the 24th of June 1914 William Maitland
  walked into a house and never came out again. One
  summer afternoon in Millhall, Lancashire, he
  vanished from the face of the earth. It was as
  simple, and as complicated, as that.

• Question Explain the contrast the writer
  conveys in these lines.

HINT The answer lies in the contrast presented
in the last sentence where we are told it was
SIMPLE and also COMPLICATED.
- So the contrast is in these two opposing ideas.
-
Answer The contrast is in how easy it is to
understand what happened but also how difficult
it is to explain what happened.
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Tone Questions
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Tone Questions

• Some people find tone questions very difficult to
  answer.
• There is a way to make them just a bit easier.
• Think of HOW the writer would SAY this if he or
  she were talking directly to you in person.
• In speech, the tone of voice used helps to make
  the speakers feelings clear.
• In writing, however, you must look at the word
  choice to find clues to the feelings or attitude
  of the author.

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Examples of tone

• Its impossible to list every variance of tone
  that a writer may use, as there are so many.
• But they can be broadly grouped together.
• Firstly, however, consider whether the writer is
  being serious or light-hearted about his subject.

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Irony is the name given to the figure of speech
where an author says the opposite of what he
really means. This could be for humorous effect,
but there is often a more serious point to be
made.
A flippant tone is where the writer is showing a
mocking attitude to his topic and isnt taking it
too seriously.
A lighthearted tone may be more informal and
conversational, whereas a serious, respectful
tone will use more formal words.
An enthusiastic effusive tone might be used in
advertising to persuade someone to buy a product.
The word conversational can describe a tone,
particularly a chatty, friendly tone, as if the
writer is confiding in the reader or directly
addressing them.
The tone may be humorous in a straightforward
way, where the writer finds the subject funny and
hopes that you will too!
A satirical tone is an extreme form of irony.
Here a writer is funny in a more savage way he
holds a subject to ridicule in order to attack it.
A tongue-in-cheek tone is a form of irony the
writer will sound serious but there will be a
sense of ridicule behind this. Euphemism is a
common feature of this tone. An example of this
may be the expression, tired and emotional to
mean drunk!
A serious tone is obviously used for a serious
purpose, on solemn occasions a funeral speech
for example. Words such as formal, ponderous or
even pompous might be applied.
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Final questions
86
Final questions

• Just above the last few questions on the Exam
  paper you will find an instruction in bold
  telling you to Think about the passage as a
  whole.
• After the heading suggests, these questions draw
  on your knowledge and understanding of the whole
  passage.
• To be able to tackle on of these questions you
  need to know the whole passage as well, and to
  have worked through it using the step by step
  questions.
• It is therefore, not possible to give you a
  chance to practise these here.
• Of course, whenever you do a pass paper in class,
  you will be able to have a go at this question
  type.

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Examples

• These questions can cover many different topics.
  You may be asked to look at the writer's style
  throughout the passage. For example
• From the passage write down an example of the
  writer's use of humour. Explain why it is
  effective.
• Or
• Why do you think the writer makes frequent use of
  brackets throughout the passage?
• You may be asked about characters in the passage,
  whom you will now know well, or about their
  feelings and reactions. For example
• Overall how do you think the writer feels about
  his experience with the humming birds? Support
  your answer by referring to the passage.
• Or
• For whom do you feel more sympathy
• - Pelagia or Mandras? Justify your
• answer by close reference to the
• passage.

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Final questions the end!

• There are many other possible types of question
  you may be asked in this final section of the
  paper.
• You should have noticed from the examples given
  earlier that one thing many of them have in
  common is
• an instruction to justify or support your answer
  by referring to the text.
• By this stage in the Exam you should know the
  text intimately, and be quickly able to pick out
  short quotations or references to back up what
  you say in your answer.